Backpacking trip to Colorado

The next series of posts will describe a trip I took this summer to Colorado, hiking and backpacking in the mountains south of Aspen. I flew into Denver with my gear, rented a car, and drove to Aspen. I stayed there two nights before backpacking into Conundrum Valley where the popular hot springs were to be a basecamp for the next four nights. My plan was to rendevous with my friend Mark from the men’s group at church. He’s an avid hiker and goes out West every summer for a two week soujourn. He convinced me to join him for this year’s edition, and I eagerly agreed.

I hadn’t been camping in years, nor backpacked in over 20. The principles haven’t changed, however: stay warm, stay dry, stay fed, and enjoy the fresh air. I even used some of the equipment I retained from years ago, lugged from house to house with the plaintive hope that I would get to use it again some day. Well, ‘someday’ finally arrived.

Why now? Well, why not? Mark had related the story of another aquaintance of his who had talked for years about doing a trip like this together. Then Mark’s acquaintance died. That motivated Mark to just start taking the trip. Talking and planning is fine, but sometime you gotta act. As Clint Eastwood put it “Let’s not go and ruin it by thinking too much.”